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Saturday, December 4, 2010

Gravestone of the Day: William Warland

William Warland, 1708, Cambridge, MA

WILLIAM

WARLAND SON

OF WILLIAM

& TABITHA

WARLAND WAS

BORN OCTOBR Ye

3RD 1706 & DIED

AUGUST 23RD

1708 AGED 1 YEAR 10

MO & 17 DAYES

This is not the first stone I have found that has the year added in as an afterthought. Since the year of death seems to be crucial information, I think that these stones might offer some clues about the time that elapsed between a death and the carving of a gravestone. I think that it would be easier to leave off the year if the stone were carved in the same year as the death — to the person who carved this stone, young William died in August, not August of 1708. I would venture that this thought is easiest to have between August of 1708 and the spring of 1709. It's not hard evidence, but it is suggestive.

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